CORAL GABLES — The dog days are here. Miami football camp is reaching the middle — two weeks in with two weeks to go before playing Boston College. The heat is choking and the mental toughness is being tested.

Blocking drill (Sun Sentinel photo)

Miami coach Al Golden didn’t mince words when talking about the importance of the next few days.

“This is it. This is the hardest part. This is where teams can get divided and where that self-preservation mode can set in. Two [practices] today, one tomorrow, and then the scrimmage. We’re trying to fight that. We don’t just want to survive this portion of camp. We want to thrive. We want to unite and rise above it as opposed to just self preservation.”

How is that achieved?

“You just keep telling them, that’s the challenge for the team right now. Everyone is going through it. Again, we need to get that selfishness out of our locker room. There’s no place for it. It’s hard on everybody. It’s hard on the coaches who don’t see their families for these two weeks. It’s hard on the players. It’s hard on everybody that supports them. Again, having a bad attitude or being negative, we have to get that out of our building. “We’re not where we need to be yet, in terms of that, but we’re a lot further than we were last year.”

(Click here for video of Golden leading an intense blocking drill this morning)

And now, more important notes from Miami’s practice Thursday morning …

Starting wide receiver Allen Hurns wore the red non-contact jersey. Golden said “it’s a head injury,” though he declined to get specific.

Linebacker Denzel Perryman, who Golden previously said was having a “phenomenal” camp, is one of those struggling to push through. “He’s in that little camp rut right now and we need to get him and we need to push him through it and get him to be the play maker we know he can be. … You can just get stuck in the monotony if you don’t focus every day.”

Only two players wore the black jersey today — punter Dalton Botts and defensive lineman Shayon Green. That means freshman cornerback Tracy Howard didn’t wear the coveted jersey for the first time since the third practice.

Daily Seantrel Henderson update: He wasn’t there for the second straight day, but Golden said he left Wednesday night for a family funeral in Minnesota.

Though Henderson practiced in full pads and was doing contact drills, Golden said he “not cleared yet. He’s home right now, but I’ll let you guys know when he’s cleared and when he’s back. But obviously this is Practice 15 or 16 and he hasn’t taken anything yet.”

Defensive end Anthony Chickillo was again wearing the limited-contact yellow jersey. He said he was sick yesterday.

Quarterback Stephen Morris said he’s been watching a little film on opening opponent Boston College (Sept. 1), but the heavy preparations won’t begin for a while. He said it’s hard to identify the most improved part of the offense, but said the running backs are looking good in all phases and the offensive line is coming together well.